"From that point on to the end of the season Martinez kept saying 'This six months is just to get you acclimatised to the Premier League' and I was kind of OK with it. I only started two games but I'd be coming off the bench. But that summer I went away and came back in really good nick, flying.

"I had a really good pre-season and then scored in the first game against Leicester and then the next game I was on the bench.

"That was the story of Everton for me. I just couldn't get going. I had the odd good game, I had the odd bad game when I was starting but I could never get a run of games.

"I was kind of always on the bench. I used to go in and see him and ask what was going on. I would rather he had just told me, 'I'm not having you'. But he would say 'Aiden you can be this, you can be that'. You'd go in thinking 'I will go in and say this' and he would absolutely Jedi mind-trick you. I'd come out and think, 'I didn't say the things I wanted to say'.

"He'd come and say 'How are you Aiden? How's things?"

"I just couldn't get going. It's a big club but I just couldn't get going. You're trying to impress but I only started three games in a row once.

And also:

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"He would encourage me when I saw him but I said to him 'I need to be playing because I've got the Euros. I can't be not playing or I'll lose my place in the Ireland team'.

"But he'd said: "Aiden the last few weeks in training you've been unbelievable" and I'd say: "That's good am I going to get a chance?" and he'd say: "Keep doing it, keep doing it".